Kukla's Korner Hockey

Q. What do you think it is about home ice advantage in the series that’s allowed every team to win the home game? Is it that important a match-up series in your mind?

SIDNEY CROSBY: No, I mean, it’s the way things have played out. But I think every game has been close up to the last game. So, you know, why, I don’t really know. But I think all the games have been fairly close.

Q. Safe to say based on that though, if you’re going to be facing elimination game to be doing it for the first time in this series on home ice is a lot more favorable?

SIDNEY CROSBY: Yeah, either way you’re going to be desperate whether you’re at home or on the road. And they’re going to want to finish things off. It’s the same for them, too. So I don’t think it has any bearing at this point. Both teams have had to win both at home and on the road to get to this point anyway. So I don’t think anybody really reads into it too much at this point.

Q. How do you think the team will react after the way you lost the other night?

SIDNEY CROSBY: I think we’re going to bounce back. We have all year. We weren’t happy with that effort, but we’ve moved on. I think we realize that, you know, if we were in 10th place in the middle of the season and they told us we had to win a game to force Game 7, we would have taken it in the Stanley Cup Finals. So we’re keeping things in perspective here knowing what we have to do.

Q. You did some changes on the power play today a little bit, practice power play today, is that something important to do today?

SIDNEY CROSBY: Yeah, just to go through it. You have a day of practice, you might as well use it to prepare. And we need to make sure we’re sharp in that area. You never know how many opportunities you’re going to get. So when you get them, you have to make the most of them. So it was good just to go through things there.

Q. Do you feel like most of the mistakes in the last game were fixable? Do you take solace in that fact?

SIDNEY CROSBY: Yeah, sometimes those games happen. You don’t want them to, but there’s times where it seems like every error you make ends up in your net and that was the case. So we’ve totally moved on here and we know what we have to do and we know we have to execute a lot better. We need to get back to that.

Q. Do you think things would have been a lot different if one of those early chances would have gone in that it would have been a completely different game?

SIDNEY CROSBY: Oh, who knows? If we score the first one and we lose in overtime 2?1, you know, who knows. A loss is a loss. The fact is we have to be a lot better. We know we can be a lot better, and we have a great opportunity here. So we can’t look back.

Q. Right before you said that I know this will make our team better. How do you feel the team is better to handle this situation because of what you saw in that Game 6 last year?

SIDNEY CROSBY: Well, I think that’s part of it. I think that Game 6 is definitely part of it, having gone through it. But I think even more so, it’s just this year’s series there is a higher confidence. We’ve seen a lot better results with the way we’ve played. So we’ll draw on that experience.

But I think more so, the results when we’ve played our game and the success we’ve had with it, so we’ll take that more from this series than we would last years.

Every experience we’ve gone through, whether it be the Finals or the regular season, what it is, you build that trust and totally expect they’re going to be at their best when the game’s on the line.

Q. We’re not used to seeing this team lose its cool like it did the other night. Are you worried about that having a lingering effect?

SIDNEY CROSBY: No, not at all.

Q. All the penalties?

SIDNEY CROSBY: Not at all. It happens. I think in games like that it’s pretty typical. You see that in every playoffs.

Q. Your slash got a lot of play on Sportscenter on Zetterberg, was that frustration for something he did? Do you have any regrets when you see that replayed over like that?

SIDNEY CROSBY: I haven’t seen it replayed, but no, I don’t have any regrets. He crosschecked me earlier on by the net. He crosschecked me earlier by the net. But it’s not about getting back at guys at this point. We’ve got to play hockey here and worry about winning a game. But, no, I don’t regret it.

Q. Can you talk about the team’s resilience? You’ve had a lot of holes this season and managed to come back and play through it. What is it about this team that’s able to respond to challenges like that?

SIDNEY CROSBY: I think guys realize that when the chips are down, you have to be at your best. And it takes everybody in order to get great results. We need to make sure that, like you said, we respond the same way we have. But having those scenarios and knowing that guys have bounced back in the right way, I think that’s a confidence level.

Q. (No microphone).

SIDNEY CROSBY: We want to play good. I don’t know. If we win tomorrow we give ourselves a chance in Game 7. That’s the way it is. So, we’re fighting to stay alive here. I wouldn’t go that far. We’re trying to battle as we have all year. We’ve got to bounce back. You know, we’ve got to have a good game and find a way to win.

Q. Can you compare going into Game 6 last year off a big emotional win in Detroit, and being down 3?2. What’s it like coming in after a tough loss and into that situation?

MARC-ANDRE FLEURY: I think all we know is it’s 3?2 for them. It doesn’t matter if we lost 2-1 or 5-0. All that matters is it’s 3-2, and we’ve got to focus on the next one no matter what it is. And we’re just going to try to play our game, and we should be all right.
Q. Can you think of this as just Game 6? Or is it a package, Game 6 and Game 7?

MARC-ANDRE FLEURY: You know, I really believe it’s not over. I really look for that Game 7. But at the same time we’ve got to be ready to just play the game and not worry about it.

Q. I know that those games are part of the life of a goalie. You have to face games like that. Do you put those games out of your mind, or do you draw on that experience to kind of motivate you in the next one?

MARC-ANDRE FLEURY: Yeah, they’re always pretty intense. Always lots of emotions going through the game. But maybe we played a Game 7 in Washington. I think it was a good challenge for us. And a good - just to see what it’s like to face elimination after playing a big game. We came out on top. So that was good.

Q. You’ve got to be mentally tough?

MARC-ANDRE FLEURY: Yeah, I think that’s a good point. You have stuff happening in your head, so if you can just block all the outside, all the negative thoughts and just play the game. Keep it simple, have some fun.

Q. You’re okay with coming off of that? You have no doubt you’ll be able to rebound?

MARC-ANDRE FLEURY: Yeah, yeah. It’s just one game. Like I said, if it’s 2-1, or it’s 5-0, that’s the loss. That’s all that matters.

Q. After last year’s Finals did you reexamine your game at all? Did it cause you to work harder?

MARC-ANDRE FLEURY: I think that’s a good push, you know. A good ?? I think every hockey player’s goal is to win the Cup. Once you’re almost there, you know, so close to it, I think it’s tough to not achieve it. But at the same time, I think it’s good motivation to get ready and to play hard to make sure you try to get that.

Q. Did you do anything different last summer?

MARC-ANDRE FLEURY: No, not really. I think I had a pretty good workout going on, so just stick to it and here we are back here.